166. FL Abelmoschus, Linn, h.f.b.i., i. 342. Rosb. 526.
Syn. : — Abelmoschus moschatus, Mœnch.
Sans. : — Latâ-kasturikâ,
Arab. : — Hab-ul-mishk.
Vern. : — Kasture, kala-kasturi (B) ; Mushk-dânâ (H) ; kasturu-benda (Dec) ; kattuk-kasturi (Tam) ; karpura-benda, (Tel) ; kasturî-bhendâ (Mar) ; kapu kimissa (Singh.)
Habitat : —Throughout the hotter parts of India ; most low country Ceylon. Found wild, says Trimen, or much cultivated in tropical countries.
An annual hispid, herbaceous plant, with long deflexed hair, tall, 2-3 ft. high. Leaves polymorphous, ovate-cordate or more usually palmately cut into 3-5 acute lobes, dentate-serrate, hairy on both sides ; petiole usually longer than leaves, with long deflexed hairs. Stipules small, subulate. Flowers large, 3-4 in., solitary, often appearing to be terminal, bright yellow, with a purple centre. Pedicels stout, curved, much thickened beneath the flower. Bracteoles 8, distinct, linear, hispid, much shorter than Calyx. Sepals completely connate, save at their point into a tube which splits down one side. Capsule 2½-3 in., ovate-ovoid, acute, hispid ; seeds kidney-bean-shaped, striate.
Parts used : — The seeds, root and leaves.
Uses ; — The Hindus regard the seeds as cooling, tonic and carminative.
The Arabic and Persian writers consider them to have stomachic and tonic properties. The author of the Makhzan-ul- Adwia recommends a mucilage prepared from the roots and leaves of the plant in gonorrhœa. In Bombay, the seeds are rubbed to a paste with milk, and used to cure itch (Dymock).
In the West Indies, the seeds are given in the cure of snake-bite, being administered both internally and externally (Watt). The late Dr. Moodeen Sheriff used a tincture of the seeds and considered it stimulant, stomachic and anti-spasmodic, and recommended its exhibition in cases of nervous debility, hysteria, and a tonic for dyspepsia.
